Vending machines for dispensing a choice of drinks, as for example, various types of coffee, hot chocolate or the like and milkshakes of various flavors are well known and have been in use for many years. For example, a U.S. patent of Nimee, U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,061 discloses an automatic vending machine for comestibles such as milkshakes or soft ice cream. As disclosed, an automatic vending machine will dispense upon selection any of a plurality of flavors of a refrigerated milkshake or soft ice cream in a predetermined controlled quantity.
A device for control of ingredients dispensed in a cup beverage vendor is disclosed in a U.S. patent of Halsey et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,967. As disclosed therein, an electronically controlled ingredient dispensing system in hot or cold vending machines uses a voltage ramp generator and a volume controller for correlating a quantity of dispensed ingredients with the voltage ramp output. Circuit elements are provided to latch-in circuits corresponding to each ingredient after a coin triggered relay switch and beverage selection switches are actuated. A voltage comparator circuit functions to compare a timing circuit voltage of increasing magnitude with a manually variable reference voltage (indicative of ingredient quantity) and activates an ingredient dispensing mechanism when the compared voltage reaches a pre-selected value and deactivates the dispensing mechanism when the voltage reaches a pre-selected higher value. Further circuit elements are provided to increase the quantity of dispensed ingredients upon activation of an extra ingredient selection switch.
A further approach to a liquid dispensing system is disclosed in a U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,487 of Little. The Little patent discloses a fluid dispensing system comprising a tank for the fluid, and means for extracting a quantity of fluid from the tank and for directing the extracted fluid to one or more selected receptacles. The means comprises a fluid collecting device including a vessel having a restricted entry aperture, the vessel being for rotary passage through the tank. An outlet pipe is positioned exteriorly of the tank whereby, in use with fluid in the tank, during a rotary cycle of the vessel air exhausts from the vessel through the outlet pipe as fluid ingresses into the vessel through the aperture during a filling operation, and air flows into the vessel through the aperture as fluid is dispensed through the outlet pipe in a dispensing operation. The term “fluid” as used in the '487 patent includes perfumes.
Finally, a U.S. patent of Hewlitt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,066,215 discloses a method for product mixing when one or more concentrates and/or diluents are mixed together in a mixing chamber and the product is dispensed from the machine into a storage container. A machine is also provided for the mixing of one or more concentrates, wherein the machine comprises one or more diluent sources and one or more concentrate sources, the diluent and concentrate sources being in fluid communication with one or more mixing chambers. Further, a process is provided for the simultaneous multiple mixing and dispensing of a plurality of products employing a machine comprising one or more diluent sources and one or more concentrate sources. The diluent and concentrate sources are in fluid communication with a plurality of mixing chambers.
Notwithstanding the above, it is presently believed that there is a need and a potential commercial market for an improved vending machine for selecting blends of perfumes in accordance with the present invention. There should be a market for such machines because the machines allow a customer to select a custom mix of perfumes and receive a sample of the selected perfume before producing the selected blend. Such machines provide a mix of up to ten scents and an ability to mix selected percentages of or amounts of each selected scent. It is also believed that such machines can be manufactured at a competitive cost, will be easy to service and will lead to an increase in sales of the perfumes.